Salvation
by Soldier78
Summary: "...if you work hard at it and don' give up, yeh can win the day or in yer case, win the day t'be with the lad." Casey, known as the Recruit, comes from Ireland with a dark past and is Rose's roommate. Join them as they try to uncover the Huntsclan's secret plan while trying to figure out their own loyalties. Takes place between 'The Hunted' and 'Homecoming'. Jake/Rose. R&R!


Salvation

Chapter 1

Huntsgirl, also known as Rose Thorn, entered her dorm room after an early morning training routine the Huntsmaster forced her to come to. It was mostly him disgracing her for her multiple defeats, citing that these early morning 'lessons' would be of 'great use to her' if she wanted to get back onto the field.

She opened the door after unlocking it, she froze when she heard the cries of someone else inside.

"Ma…Da…NO!"

Rose gasped, hurried inside and shut the door quickly. She threw her mask to the side and approached the bed with caution. This was the third time this month she caught her roommate thrashing about on the top bunk, screaming at the dark shadows plaguing her mind.

Rose used the mattress of her own bed as a way to reach up to the freaked out girl.

"No, it's not my fault!"

Rose started to shake her shoulder.

"Casey, wake up!" Rose tried to disrupt. However, the teen turned onto her side. "It's just a dream!"

"No, Da!" The girl, Casey, shot upright, startling Rose. The girl was bathed in a cold sweat and was out of breath.

"Don' leave me." She whispered, weakly. Rose looked at her, removing her hand from her shoulder. Casey groaned and fell back, her head onto her pillow. "God help me."

"Same dream, Case?"

The girl gave a tired, irritated sigh and her eyes glanced waywardly at the floor.

"Aye."

Her eyes looked back at her caring friend who gave her hand a squeeze. This interaction was something not expected for two Huntsclan members, however, the two could care less. When Rose was summoned back to the Academy upon Huntsmaster's orders, the master stripped her of her benefits for being his apprentice and stuck her with a roommate who had just been transferred from another Huntsclan Academy from overseas East.

Her name was Casey. She wasn't like the other Huntsclan novices, who were taken from their parents at birth. No, Casey's story was probably more upsetting than the average recruit. The level of unusual about the background story stirred the interest of the Academy's students and so came the many rumors. Yet Rose, because of their developed bond, heard the story straight from the mouth of the girl. And it was because of her story that she had these frightening nightmares, probably losing nights and nights of sleep for years now.

"C'mon." Rose sighed, stepping off of her bed. "First period starts in ten minutes."

Casey grunted and muttered something under her breath before finally jumping off of her bed. She landed on the ground swiftly and snatched her suit from the hook by the window, pulling it over her gym shorts and white tee with ease. Rose noted the shuffling of her feet as the girl pulled the mask over her face.

They walked together to first period. They took their places inside the dojo where the teacher, one of the Huntsmaster's top commanders, entered the room and started the lesson of the day.

"Alright, everyone take an energy bow and take a target." Ordered the teacher. Rose picked up two bows from the shelf and handed one to Casey who nodded in thanks. "You will spend this time to perfect your aim. If you miss your target, you will either run or do push-ups until I say you can stop."

Casey took the lane right next to Rose. She looked at the target which took the form of a dragon.

"Doesn' surprise me wha' we're shootin' at." Casey commented as she checked her bow for any flaws. Before her friend could respond, the teacher shouted at the squad to open fire. Rose fired her first shot, demolishing the target right at the bullseye. Casey chuckled a bit in bewilderment. "Aye, good shot."

Rose smirked in pride and watched Casey draw back her hand. The girl fired and the energy arrow only skimmed the edge of the target's head. Rose noted the scowl on Casey's face and the teacher approached her.

"Recruit, that will be 200 push-ups." He ordered. "On your knees, now!"

Casey grumbled as she got down and started her workout.

"Add another 50!"

It took Casey up to 750 pushups to finally get a decent shot that saved Casey from another 250. She smirked and pulled back another arrow, ready to fire. The second before she released her shot, the bell rang which startled her to cause a misfire and the arrow bounced off of the wall. The energy ricochet off of the metal pipe overhead and nearly pulverized the Educator who ducked.

"Fer the love o' Crom…" Casey paused when she saw the man stand back up and cast her a deadly snarl. "Aye, best be off!"

Casey quickly shoved the bow back onto the shelf and bolted. Rose, who just stared in disbelief for Casey was so multi-talented with other weapons.

At lunch, Casey sat alone at the table. Her eyes were trained on an old photo that had been creased from several years of being stuffed in a pocket. Three people were in that image, two adults and a five year old. The male adult had the child on his shoulders, holding her by the leg and his other arm was wrapped around the woman who had the widest smile and was in the process of fixing the kid's wrinkled shirt.

"How's the unicorn burger?"

Casey looked up and saw her friend sit down across from her. Casey shyly folded up the old photo and stuck it into the pants of her uniform.

"Aye, as crispy as usual." Casey muttered glumly. She picked up her lunch and took a giant bite out of it. Rose rolled her eyes, now completely indifferent to Casey's table manners. She decided to talk to her about something else.

"How's your arms?" She noted.

"Me arms feel like lead." Casey refuted, she caught her friend gracing a smile. "Ach, rub it in. I'll get me archer skills soon 'nough."

"What makes you think I'm making fun of you?" Rose haughtily responded. "Of course, your last one was pretty funny."

"How was the yer o'er class?" Casey asked before taking another chunk out of her meal.

"The usual, had to demonstrate the best way to stun a dragon."

Casey grunted as she swallowed another bite. As they ate in comfortable silence, Rose couldn't help but note how even though Casey was behaving like she always does, there was a tone in her voice that hinted the restlessness.

"What're yeh starin' at?" Rose shook her head, she should've remembered how keen Casey was.

"I'm just...I'm a little worried about you, Case."

Casey took a swig of her water.

"Don' be, it was jus' a dream." Casey assured. "Just dreamin' ol' memories, tha's all."

Not even Casey's 'optimism' was fool-proof. Rose knew how broken Casey really was, especially after she snuck a glance down at her tray with a distant gleam. Rose sighed and reached over, setting a hand gently on the girl's.

"If you need to talk, I'm always here for you."

"Aye, I count mighty on yer friendship t' me, Rose." Casey said honestly. She bit her lip for a second. "But, how can I express me manky blarney when yeh ne'er 'ad a family in the first place?"

"We both have our dark pasts, Case." Rose argued.

"Aye, yer right." Casey sighed. "But, there's not much t'ask fer now."

Just then, the bell rang and the cafeteria filtered out.

By the end of the day, Casey returned to her room. She walked in, noticing Rose already sucked into her magical books she thieved from the library. Casey rolled her eyes.

"Aye, yeh read tha' book at least three times." Casey commented as she hung up her uniform, wearing her tee and gym shorts again. She jumped onto her bed and rolled onto her back.

"At least I actually study." Her friend commented from the lower bed. Casey scoffed and rolled onto her side.

"Wha's t'study fer yeh? Tips on how t'git on Huntsmaster's good side 'gain?"

Casey imagined her friend casting her a cold, scowl but didn't imagine the traumatic thump that scared the kid for a second as her back painfully landed, a bit uncomfortably.

"Oi!" Casey shouted. She heard Rose's evil snicker. "Mouldy-"

"You sure you want to finish that statement?"

"Yeh know I can belt yeh right?" Casey said, leaning over the edge of her bed to glare at Rose.

There was the harsh knock on the door and it swung open without a single pause.

"Bed check, maggots!" screeched the Huntsclan Girl dorm RA. She flashed the flashlight around, Casey rolled onto her side and pretended to snore. Once everything was found in order, she marched out and slammed the door shut, rattling the room.

"Ugh, one day she'll 'ave the ceilin' cave in." Casey mumbled. She yawned. "Aye, but I would like t'sleep."

Rose chuckled at her friend's mindless jabber.

"Night Case." She said, silently asking for Casey to have better dreams tonight.

However, on the top bunk, Casey gazed at the photo one last time as per routine.

"Night Ma, night Da."

To be continued.


End file.
